All the Little Raindrops

The police did not believe Tallulah, just as they doubted Lars. Again, Evan points out the difference between his and Noelle’s experience and that of the other captives, people whose “stories were easily dismissed” (277); his and Noelle’s abduction was high profile. They try to discern a pattern but cannot. Evan insists that Noelle is the only reason why her father would part with her mother’s ring, so something must have happened before she went missing to make him sell it.

Grim wakes up and thinks about how he and Cedro are “throwaways” to those who kidnapped them. He gets his bread and water, finding a prayer card beneath his napkin and feeling the familiar bumps on it. Cedro asks whose picture was in the locket he stole, and Grim says that it was his daughter, Penelope, who died five years ago. The guardian tells Grim that he has been rented: If Grim does not come, the man will cut out Cedro’s tongue. Grim agrees to go quietly and is taken to a room with a treadmill surrounded by burning coals and an electric fence. The guardian says that Grim must run on the treadmill for one hour, and Grim stares in disbelief.

Evan and Noelle go out; it feels good but also surreal to Noelle. She recalls what Tallulah said about her gifts coming from someone who seemed to know her, and Noelle wonders who this could be. She sees a rabbit on a slot machine nearby and remembers the man who called her “Little rabbit,” including how he emphasized certain words, encouraging her to break the pencil. She now connects the words that he stressed and tells Evan that most of the gifts they received were not random.

He agrees that someone was trying to help them and says that they were in a “digital coliseum” of sorts. Noelle wonders if viewers could bet on their choices, prompting Evan to wonder how a viewer would have known that Noelle knew how to start a fire in an outlet. She says that someone could have researched her background and learned that her father was an electrician. Likewise, someone could have guessed that Evan would use the mallet to smash his fingers to access the keypad because of the guilt he felt about what Noelle sacrificed for them. Evan says that whoever sent the gifts or bet that they’d escape would have had to strategize and hope that he and Noelle would understand.

Noelle tells him about the man who got her the graphite, explaining that she understood his clues because he used a code similar to their own: He emphasized certain words to convey a message. She tells Evan that the visitor told her a story about a man who collected women and draped them in jewels; about one of the women giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl; and about a ball that turned into a massacre. Noelle says that the man who told the story had an accent.

Evan spends the night researching the story that the man told Noelle. He hands her an article about a man in Brussels called Dedryck Van Daele, heir to a diamond-mining company, who threw a huge fete around the time when some women went missing. Meanwhile, Noelle wants to give the cash they found with Maginn’s belongings to Louise. Evan suggests that they use it to buy back her mother’s ring, but Noelle says that there aren’t good memories associated with it.

When Noelle gives Louise the cash, Louise confesses that she hasn’t been totally honest. She then gives Noelle an iPad that she found with her brother’s things and intended to sell for money. Noelle turns it on in her car and nearly drops it.

Cedro wakes up when the door opens, and Grim falls to the floor of his cage. He is dripping wet and bright red, but he starts laughing. Cedro thinks about throwing his peppermints at him, but he’s saving them as reminders of his only good memories. Grim asks Cedro to pray with him.

Noelle and Evan look at the iPad, which contains pictures of the gym where Evan was kidnapped. Maginn wrote the gym’s name and address in his notes, along with Evan’s name. They then see a photo that is blurry, as though someone took it while trying to remain unseen. It appears to show a website, which Evan thinks could be where wealthy viewers play the “game.” He suspects that Maginn was responsible for his abduction and that Noelle’s father was involved, but Noelle bristles at the accusation. Evan says that his father ruined Meyer’s life, but Noelle points out that Sinclair wouldn’t know of his son’s fate, making revenge seem less likely as a motive. Evan says that his father would know if he was one of the men playing the game; moreover, Evan thinks that he recognizes his father’s couch in one of the photos.

Evan can tell that Noelle wants him to hold her, and when she turns away, he implores her to stop pretending that they don’t need each other. He suggests that she still holds his father’s behavior against him, that she doesn’t want Callie to be a Sinclair, and that she’s afraid the Sinclairs will keep hurting her. She admits that this is all true. However, when he says that he loves her and Callie, she knows that he is not responsible for his father’s sins. Hopeful that she and Evan can reject their fathers’ depravity, she says that she loves him, too, and they have sex.

When Noelle wakes up, she apologizes to Evan for doubting him. He has been trying to figure out what compelled Meyer to seek revenge on Sinclair six years after his wife’s death; Evan reasons that Meyer must have come across some new information that enraged him—perhaps the photos that eventually ended up in Maginn’s possession. He wonders if there are more. Noelle decides to look in her mother’s books, which are packed with her father’s things. Inside one, she finds a hidden compartment containing a travel itinerary to Hawaii and more pictures. The pictures show Sinclair’s home theater, and one shows Sinclair himself masturbating while he watches a screen depicting people in cages. Evan and Noelle assume that her mother took the photo; she wasn’t having an affair with Sinclair after all.

Knowing that his father is away, Evan takes Noelle to Sinclair’s house. He types in the codes for the gate, front door, and den as Noelle avoids the security cameras. Evan admits that he used to spy on his father, so he knows the location of a secret room. They access it, and he finds records that show that Sinclair hired Noelle’s mother, Megan, to clean his house; Evan never saw her because he spent that summer with his mother. Sinclair hid his employment of Megan and painted her as a jilted lover to explain why he shot her; in reality, he must have learned that she had proof of his depravity. Years later, Meyer must have found the photos that his wife took and realized the truth. Rather than calling the police, who let him down before, Meyer arranged for Evan’s abduction to punish Sinclair.

Evan recalls that his father wasn’t surprised by Noelle’s presence in Mexico. His father also didn’t tell the police about their escape; he went to Mexico himself. Noelle agrees that his father knew more than he should have and that it’s likely because he watched them. Noelle finds a note with an address in Brussels, where the missing women were from in the article that Evan found, and the name “Fontane Lejeune.” Evan opens a safe and takes out a necklace case, which contains a delicate silver chain with a giant red gem.

Noelle searches for information about Lejeune online and finds a photo of him as a boy. He looks like Evan, and Evan realizes that Lejeune and Sinclair are the same person. They decide to revisit Baudelaire, who tells them about Van Daele and the rumors about the party-turned-massacre. Baudelaire looks at the gem and says that it’s a rare red diamond, but it’s not the only one in Reno: He saw a similar one in a man’s ring years before. A few months ago, Baudelaire says, he saw an article that included a picture of this very man. He shows them the picture, and Evan recognizes Dr. Vitucci; Noelle says that he was her father’s therapist, too.

In the car, Evan tells Noelle about his experience with Vitucci. When they arrive at Vitucci’s home, the front door is open, and Vitucci beckons them in. Noelle immediately recognizes his voice.

Vitucci explains that Baudelaire, who raised Vitucci, tipped him off. Vitucci’s mother worked for Van Daele, and Noelle realizes that Vitucci was one of the twins from his story; he confirms that he had a sister, Celesse. Vitucci learned to read people, collecting clues about their fears and motivations. On the night of the massacre, a mortician discovered that he was still alive and sent him to an Italian doctor called Vitucci; the doctor gave the boy his name, healed him, and sent him to live with Baudelaire, the doctor’s French cousin. Baudelaire raised Vitucci alongside his own son, Gervais.

When Vitucci grew up, he learned that the men who killed his mother and sister had moved to Reno and changed their names: Fontane Lejeune became Leonard Sinclair. On the night of the massacre, Vitucci saw these men murder 14 people, and his mother and sister were too frightened to attempt escape. Now, he helps people stuck in the game the only way he can: by giving them gifts that they can use to help themselves.

Evan and Noelle are appalled by his corruption, but Vitucci insists that what he does is ethical. He asks to see Celesse’s diamond, which matches the one in his ring, and he gives Noelle her father’s computer and her mother’s photos of Sinclair. Vitucci defends his choices and points out that he did help Evan emotionally after his escape. Vitucci also worked with Meyer after his wife’s death. Years later, when Baudelaire told Vitucci that Meyer had sold his wife’s ring, Vitucci called Meyer for a follow-up. Meyer was experiencing a mental health crisis, and Vitucci, who knew that Evan was missing, wondered if that fact was connected to Meyer’s agitation. Meyer said that he had asked a friend to hack a site that allowed users to hurt people, but when Meyer saw Evan in the cage, he regretted what he’d done. He sold the ring hoping to buy Evan’s freedom, but that’s not how the game works.

Vitucci killed Maginn, insisting to Evan and Noelle that the organization would have done something much worse to the hacker. When Meyer died, Vitucci stole his laptop and photos, and then he asked Sinclair to be his game sponsor. Sinclair was willing because Vitucci hid evidence for him in Meyer’s lawsuit. Vitucci asks Evan to turn on the television, and Evan and Noelle see Cedro and Grim in cages. They watch for a moment, but when they turn back, Vitucci and the red diamond are gone.

“Caspar” arrives at the ball he has waited eight years for. Tonight, Vitucci is “Caspar” again, though he is no longer a helpless little boy. There are women in cages, draped in jewels. He also sees Van Daele, “the king,” now an old man in a wheelchair. A server approaches with champagne, and Vitucci recognizes him; the server indicates one of the flutes with a slight motion of his pinkie finger. Vitucci takes that one, watching as the other partygoers guzzle the champagne, and Vitucci raises his glass to Sinclair, the man who raped his sister.

Grim ties off a makeshift bandage around his arm, covering the stump where his hand used to be. He’s lost a lot of blood, so they have to escape now. Grim gives Cedro their sign, and the next time the guardian comes in, Cedro begins to cry and then pretends to choke on a peppermint. When the guardian pounds on the boy’s back, Cedro picks the key from the man’s pocket. Before the man backs away, Cedro raises his hand high and sweeps his arm down toward the man’s neck.

Vitucci and the others at the ball watch as Cedro uses a sharpened tin whistle to kill the guard and free Grim. The guests keep drinking, some in celebration and others in defeat. Suddenly, the screens show static and begin displaying the party guests instead of the prisoners. Men begin to foam at the mouth, and Vitucci catches the eye of Gervais Baudelaire, his adopted brother and the man who served the poisoned champagne. Vitucci sent the red diamonds to Baudelaire, who will use the money from their sale to help any prisoners who both protected others and managed to escape. Sinclair swings a knife at Vitucci, and Vitucci punches him repeatedly. Finally, Vitucci slits Sinclair’s throat, saying that he’s doing it “[f]or Evan.” He instructs Gervais to free the women and leave.

Noelle sobs while Evan calls Aria. They see Cedro and Grim escape but have no idea where they were being held or where the party is. Evan films everything on his phone. Noelle cannot look away as one man in a server uniform frees the caged women. She sees Vitucci moving through the crowd and cannot decide whether he is a hero or a villain. He strangles Van Daele and then downs glass after glass of poisoned champagne before falling to his knees.

Evan goes to South Carolina to visit Callie and Noelle. He wonders if this town needs a private investigator, and Noelle suggests that they get him settled and then figure out how to tell Callie that he’s her father. Still somewhat conflicted, Noelle is nonetheless grateful to Vitucci. Evan produces her mother’s ring, saying that Baudelaire sent it to him. For now, it represents a “promise,” he says, and they link fingers before heading to the house.